AMERICAN GAME BIRDS 



157 



conserving bird life, but possess added 

 value to the public as pleasure resorts. 

 They serve also the cause of education 

 by providing readily accessible places 

 where the habits of wild birds may be 

 studied by school children and others. 



VALUE OF BERRY-BEARING SHRUBS 



Another important way of caring for 

 both game and insectivorous birds is to 

 provide food for them, especially in win-. 

 ter and during deep snows. This method 

 is particularly effective, since the expense 

 entailed is small and it can be practised 

 everywhere by private individuals. Pitts- 

 burgh has a special superintendent whose 

 peculiar care is the birds in the public 

 parks. Several States, as Massachusetts, 

 Connecticut, Vermont, Delaware, and 

 Pennsylvania, have, or recently had, State 

 ornithologists, whose usefulness in prac- 

 tical ways is unquestioned. Their duties 

 include the study of the habits of birds 

 from the economic point of view, and the 

 preparation of reports thereon to aid in 

 the framing of protective legislation. 



The planting of berry-bearing shrubs 

 and trees in public parks and along pub- 

 lic roadsides is another effective method 

 of caring for our bird life. Already 

 many women's clubs, quick to recognize 

 their opportunity, have taken up this 

 work and are urging park commission- 

 ers to make special provisions for the 

 needs of our birds. Such methods bear 

 more directly on the welfare of our seed- 

 eating and insectivorous birds, but they 

 also have a beneficial effect on game 

 birds, especially bob-white and the ruffed 



PRIVATE AND STATE ORGANIZATIONS 



Such organizations as the Meriden 

 Bird Club, of Xew Hampshire, are espe- 

 cially to be commended. This is a local 

 community club as distinguished from 

 the public or private preserve or sanc- 

 tuary. Its purposes, as stated in its con- 

 stitution, are as admirable as they are 

 direct and simple: "The objects of this 

 club shall be the increase and protection 



of our local wild birds, the stimulation 

 of interest in bird life, and the gradual 

 establishment of a model bird sanctuary." 



Of wider scope and aims are such or- 

 ganizations as the National Association 

 of Audubon Societies, with its many 

 affiliated State societies ; the American 

 Game Protective Association; the Wild 

 Life Protective Fund ; and the State 

 Game Protective Associations. The work 

 of these various bodies, individually and 

 collectively, has proved a most impor- 

 tant factor in the nation-wide movement 

 to conserve our valuable bird life. 



Of recent years instruction as to the 

 economic value of birds and the best 

 ways to conserve them has received much 

 attention in the public schools of many 

 States, and the results are likely to prove 

 fruitful, both now and in the years to 

 come. 



MANY GAME BIRDS CAN BE REARED IN 

 CAPTIVITY 



Finally, the artificial propagation of 

 our game birds has a direct and impor- 

 tant bearing on their present and future 

 welfare. It has already been demon- 

 strated that bob-white and other quail 

 can be reared in captivity and used to 

 stock depleted covers, while Canada 

 geese, mallards, black ducks, wood- 

 ducks, and others of the goose and duck 

 tribe can be reared under suitable condi- 

 tions almost as readily as domestic fowls 

 and be used to stock public lakes and 

 ponds. This is a work which may prop- 

 erly be undertaken by State game com- 

 missions and in fact has already been 

 begun. 



If in consequence of the cessation of 

 spring shooting the numbers of our 

 waterfowl and shorebirds increase, as is 

 confidently expected they will, the sale 

 of hunting licenses in most of the States 

 will provide ample funds for all neces- 

 sary experiments in the artificial propa- 

 gation of game on a large scale, and thus 

 be an important factor not only in pre- 

 serving the species now in danger, but 

 in furnishing game for sport and food. 



